Aboriginal people have been living on the Australian continent for more than 40,000 years, making theirs the oldest continuous living culture in the world.

The goanna is a large lizard that lives in dry climates in Australia. Goanna and other lizards are a substantial part of central Australian Aboriginal people's food source. They are tracked down and dug from burrows using a special digging stick.

The goanna is also a totemic spirit that got its name because it resembles the iguana. For thousands of years, Aboriginal people have told creation stories or Dreamings to maintain their laws and customs and their relationship to the land. Today, in many areas, particularly remote rural places, the Aboriginal people keep their traditional and cultural ways. One way they do this is with their attachment to their land, expressed and reinforced by their ceremonies and their Aboriginal art.  

They carve animals from dry wood or tree roots, often using the roots of river gum or mulga. Some sculptures are plain, while others, as seen here, have patterns and symbols relating to Aboriginal culture. The shape of the wood is used to structure models of animals.

You can see traditional patterns and colours in the two figures shown: the red and yellow (earth), white clay and charcoal mixed with plums for black.